1. Technical Field
Bioabsorbable polymers made from cyclic ether-esters derived from crown ethers are described herein. Surgical articles prepared from such polymers are also disclosed.
2. Background of Related Art
Crown ethers or macrocyclic ethers generally comprise repeating ethyleneoxy (--O--CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 --) units. These macrocyclic polyethers are commonly known as crown ethers because their molecular models resemble crowns. Crown ethers are designated N-crown -M polyethers wherein N is the total number of atoms and M is the number of oxygen atoms in the polyether ring. Crown ethers are well known ion complexing compounds which are used as phase transfer catalysts in many organic reactions. Crown ethers are used in a variety of applications. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,611 discloses polyols containing macrocyclic polyether rings. Hydrolysis of the macrocyclic polyethers yields diols which are condensed with diacids or diisocyanates to form polyesters or polyurethanes which complex with metal salts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,168 discloses vinylcyclopropane derivatives reacted to obtain monomers useful for the preparation of oligomers which may be further polymerized by light, organic peroxides, or other means. Cyclic polyether compounds are employed as catalysts to obtain the vinylcyclopropane derivatives.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,004 discloses perfluorinated crown ethers useful as oxygen carriers and for other biomedical purposes, such as the coordination of toxic metals in the blood stream.
Bioabsorbable polymers and copolymers having glycolic acid ester linkages and/or dioxanone linkages are well-known. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,243,775, 4,643,191, 5,076,807, 5,080,665, and 5,100,433.
The present disclosure provides a process for preparing bioabsorbable polymers derived from cyclic ether-esters synthesized from crown ethers. As the ester functional group is introduced into the cyclic monomer, the ester and ether linkage and their sequences in the final polymers can be easily controlled and modified to obtain polymeric materials with desirable physical and degradation properties for a variety of applications.